I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - GLSR Chapter 3 (Part 2)

The six goblins might initiate combat first, and the warrior wore decent iron armor.

Once you hit higher levels, you could cut through them like paper dolls, but the first floor was still early-game.

One Hunter he met during an operation grumbled that even as an archer, he had to use a dagger to clear that floor.

Most of the posts on HunterNow said the same.

Even though it’s just the first floor, don’t get careless—take out each one carefully.

Focus on safety. Don’t worry about clear grades.

‘The highest clear grade for Floor 1 was S, right?’

Lee Hyun recalled.

Each floor assigned a grade upon clearing it.

From F, F+… to A, A+, S.

You could retry any cleared floor and enter as many times per day as you wanted.

But your first clear grade would be permanently recorded and was especially meaningful.

If someone cleared a floor originally capped at grade B with an A on their first try, the whole Hunter network would be notified.

That record couldn’t be overwritten with later attempts.

Plus, since most people reached the first floor right after awakening, even a B grade was respectable.

Clearing it with a grade above B labeled you a rising star—guilds would notice.

Of course, there were monsters who cleared it with S grades.

Most of them went on to become S-rank or even reach the status of “superhuman.”

So, your initial first-floor grade was a form of proof of your ability.

Incidentally, the magic crystal reward for clearing a floor only came once.

As for monster materials, you could only collect them once per day.

So entering the Tower more than twice a day was just for XP or practice.

Lee Hyun watched a user-uploaded terrain simulation video of the first floor.

“Starts on a hill… combat won’t begin unless the goblins see you or you go down the hill.”

Lee Hyun’s plan was simple.

“One shot is all I need.”

A sniper speaks only with bullets.

The less you say, the better.

The terrain was simple, and so was the mission—but Lee Hyun planned like it was a real operation.

Within 2nd Platoon, Lee Hyun had a different nickname.

The guy obsessed with sniping.

For Lee Hyun, who fixated on perfecting each shot, it was the highest praise.

And outside his door, Dongho—who’d been awkwardly loitering—heard the murmuring and texted Minjeong:

— Honey… I think Hyun’s trying to play video games or something… —

…Well, if you only heard the voice, it was understandable.

After researching Floor 1 extensively, Lee Hyun finally went to bed after Minjeong closed the store and came home.

“Ah.”

More precisely, he got back up briefly.

“Gotta distribute my stats.”

He’d almost forgotten the most important thing.

The next morning, Lee Hyun woke up feeling the most refreshed he had in over a year.

No more damp air from the barracks.

Just the fresh atmosphere of a well-kept room.

“Aaaah!”

He stretched luxuriously.

“A new morning, a new life!”

As Junghwan had warned, until yesterday he was still technically a soldier—so he had to be careful.

But today, he was completely free!

Still lying down, Lee Hyun turned his head to the side.

His sniper rifle stood next to the bed.

No—not just a sniper rifle anymore.

Now it was an awakened weapon.

Lee Hyun called out cheerfully:

“Status window.”

「Choi Lee Hyun’s Sniper Rifle
Lv. 1
Firepower: 5
Range: 0
Precision: 2
Stability: 2
Stealth: 0
Rate of Fire: 1
Mana: 5」

These were the distributed stats of his sniper rifle.

After analyzing the first floor, he had invested in the areas he deemed most critical.

Of course, firepower and mana got the biggest boosts.

“Especially mana. That’s a must.”

For someone always limited to two shots, it was an obvious choice.

He didn’t know how much effect one point of mana had, but—

“Well, guess it’s time to head out.”

After getting ready, Lee Hyun grabbed his rifle and left the room.

His mother, already up, acknowledged him.

“Oh? Where are you going?”

“I’ve got somewhere to be.”

Just as he was about to head out, Minjeong stopped him.

“Wait, hold on a second.”

“Mother.”

Lee Hyun called out softly.

Minjeong was a bit taken aback.

“Huh? Since when do you say ‘Mother’?”

He usually just called her Mom.

“A man will, one day, face a moment in life where he must take on something great.”

At Lee Hyun’s serious expression, Minjeong reluctantly let go of his wrist.

“Well, if that’s the case, I can’t stop you.”

And then added:

“I made kimchi stew… Guess I’ll have to eat it with your dad.”

“But to take on something great, one must first eat well.”

Lee Hyun turned and headed for the kitchen.

Even a Tower should be tackled after a proper meal.

After eating, Lee Hyun headed for an open lot near home.

It was a quiet place, empty aside from the occasional delinquent teens.

No worries for a special forces soldier like him.

“If I want to sneak into the Tower, this is the place.”

He was fully prepared for entry into Floor 1.

「Republic of Korea – Enter Main Tower, Floor 1?」

“Yeah.”

As Lee Hyun nodded, a system window appeared.

「You are a normal Awakened. Entry denied.」

Wait, what?

After all this prep—was he getting blocked at the gate?

“…Seriously?”

As Lee Hyun muttered in disbelief, another system window appeared.

「Awakened item detected. Synchronization confirmed. Entering.」

Way to scare someone.

His body was immediately transported into the Tower.

A wide plain.

He didn’t know how it worked, but inside the Tower, each floor was its own distinct map.

Lee Hyun opened his eyes on top of a hill.

As seen in the video yesterday, six goblins and a goblin warrior were visible.

The warrior’s armor was no different from what he’d seen outside the Tower.

Strong enough to deflect rifle rounds.

But—

“Doesn’t matter. Not to me.”

Lee Hyun immediately went prone at the top of the hill.

Confirming his position, he began crawling stealthily.

He had no Stealth stat, but this much was enough to avoid detection at that distance.

“I used to sneak around just fine even before my rifle awakened.”

Lee Hyun moved to the optimal position he’d found in the simulation video.

Some minor differences, but nothing that would affect the shot.

At last, he reached the spot.

Clear sightlines. High elevation.

“Good visibility, no wind, perfect range.”

It was like the terrain was built just for sniping.

For Lee Hyun, who had sniped under the worst conditions, it was practically a bed.

The principle behind a mana rifle was simple.

Infuse mana, then fire.

Lee Hyun’s lack of mana had always been a fatal flaw, but with enough, it held many advantages over regular guns.

Srrrk—

There was a mana input slot near the trigger.

As always, Lee Hyun moved to load mana into the weapon—

“Oh?”

At that moment, he realized something had changed.

Actually, it wasn’t something to realize—

“It’s already loaded?!”

The rifle was already charged.

Thinking about it, it made sense.

The Mana stat that increased wasn’t his—it was the rifle’s.

That meant he could now shoot using the rifle’s own mana—5 points’ worth.

At this point, the mana rifle was practically no different from a regular firearm.

But he couldn’t afford to get excited yet.

No—excitement was the enemy of a sniper.

Nothing had changed.

The goblin warrior was a familiar foe.

The only difference was that it was inside the Tower.

“Whew.”

Taking a deep breath, Lee Hyun looked through the scope.

Among the seven goblins, one warrior stood proud.

The crosshair settled cleanly over him.

It was still just the first floor.

All Lee Hyun needed was—

“One shot.”

Breath held.

Trigger pulled.

TAAANG———!!!!

“!”

A far louder shot than he anticipated rang in his ears.

And not just that—

The recoil was on a whole other level.

So much that Lee Hyun instinctively pulled his cheek away from the stock.

Most likely due to Firepower 5.

Mana rifles used mana instead of gunpowder, but their sound was similar to regular rifles.

Because mana, unlike system-sanctioned skills, was used in a crude and raw way.

But he hadn’t expected it to change this drastically.

“So that’s why there’s a Stealth stat.”

Lee Hyun put his eye back to the scope to check the result.

And then—

“…Huh?”

He tilted his head.

“Where… did it go?”

The goblin warrior he’d just been aiming at was nowhere to be seen.

Had it sensed the shot and dodged—?

「Goblin Warrior eliminated.
You have cleared Floor 1.
Grade: S+」

Apparently not.

「Item ‘Choi Lee Hyun’s Sniper Rifle’ has leveled up.
Please check the status window.」